Duty
by Anomity
Summary: A story viewed from the eyes of Coby & Helmeppo. Will these two marines live up to their duty? Will they be strong enough to defeat the dangers of the Grand Line? Accepting OCs! Everything after the WB War is AU. I dont own OP.
1. The Beginning

Hello! Here I am, another story. Should be updating the other stories soon.. (I hope) Well, here is an AU version of One Piece. Be warned, there will be spoilers for everything that comes after the Saboady Arc. Remember to Review! It gives me the sense that my readers are actually reading Now, on with the story;

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"Socho, socho," Coby was rudely shaken awake. "What is it?" he asked the marine beside him, while rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palms. "Vice-Admi-, uhh I mean, Garp wants to see you." The nervous attendant replied. Coby immediately perked up. Upon the ending of the war, he had been taken to the infirmary, where the wounds that he had sustained were treated. Something that came as a surprise was the Kenbunshoku Haki that he had discovered in the course of the great marinefold war. Haki, as explained by Fleet Admiral Kuzan, formerly known as Admiral Aokiji, was the intrinsic power that the human mind possessed. It was also known by many other names, including, ambition, will, and fighting spirit. Having seen the destructive powers of Haki during the battle of Marinefold, Coby was more than wary of what this power could do.

However, to a certain extent, Coby was glad that he had gained that power. It would allow him to compete with the more well known marines and pirates in the field, and would probably earn him his promotion in due time. Wondering what Garp had in store for him, he sighed, and got up from the bed, and opened the door to his room. The nervous attendant was still outside, tapping his foot on the floor in a display of impatience. Coby glared at him. Indeed, he had changed, greatly due to his Haki, which allowed him to more or less 'read' people. But currently he could only sense a few things that were not normally noticeable, such as the stiff posture of the attendant, as well as the tension in his shoulders.

With practice, he would be able to see attacks before they hit him, and anticipate the moves of an enemy. He followed the attendant past many twists and turns, and finally they reached a dilapidated bar with the sign "The Golden Boar" written in faded faint letters hung over the entrance. He stepped in, immediately sensing that something was wrong, the atmosphere was silent, too silent to be any good. Garp was a loud and rambunctious man, and the silence in the bar did not suit him. As Coby's eyes adjusted to the darkness around him, he noticed Garp seated on one of the bar's seats, with his friend Helmeppo standing in front of him.

"Coby, come here," Garp said with a scratchy voice. Coby obeyed, even though Garp was not his superior anymore, he was still the former hero of the Marines, a man whom had gone head to head with the likes of Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard, and Coby respected him for that. Immediately he could see the differences in the face of his former superior. He had not seen the man since he and Sengoku had started to fight the Blackbeard pirates. Garp's face was more lined, and seemed to hold an aura of immense sadness around the man. Coby knew that Garp was still feeling grief over the death of his adoptive grandson, and anger at Admiral Akainu, which was probably the reason that Garp had resigned from the marines.

Garp started talking once again, and Coby fixed his fullest attention on him. "Coby, Helmeppo, this age that has come... it is one of danger and murder." He said his voice fully serious. Coby nodded, and Helmeppo chose to remain silent. "In this era you will witness many atrocities, many killings, much strife and grief and pain. Are you ready for that?" Garp asked. Helmeppo moved to say yes, but reconsidered seeing the weight of Garp's stare. Gathering his courage, Coby spoke, "Yes sir, with some rest and some training I believe we will be ready to carry out our justice again sir!" Garp snickered at him, and Coby saw a glimpse into the man he had known ever since he had taken in himself and Helmeppo into his tutelage. But soon enough, Garp sobered, and said "Then you are a fool Coby." Coby could feel his indigence begin to rise, but deflated as the memories of the Marinefold War came back to him, of the many powerful foes that roamed in the second half of the grand line.

"So what do you propose then," Helmeppo broke in. Garp sighed, and said, "I will teach you to use Haki." Immediately Coby felt elated at the prospect of improving his newfound powers. "But I don't have it." Helmeppo muttered dejectedly. "Nonsense!" bellowed Garp in a good-fashioned way. "Everyone has Haki! It is just that many are not aware of it!" This was followed by Garp explaining to the two young marines about the basics of Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku Haki, otherwise known as the Colors of Observation and Armaments respectively. Coby was quite nonchalant about the entire affair, having already heard it from Fleet Admiral Kuzan, but Helmeppo, having heard none of it, was immensely interested, especially in Busoshoku Haki, which would give them advantages over devil fruit users and at the same time nullify the advantage that the fruit users had over them. Garp rose, and simply said, "Attack me." A second after Garp had uttered those words, Coby and Helmeppo sprung into action, having faced this scenario many times in their trainings with the old man.

Coby somersaulted, and brought his foot down in a violent vertical motion, shouting "Rankyaku!" sending a line of air at Garp. Meanwhile, Helmeppo had not been idle. He had drawn his swords and vanished with a muttered Soru, speeding towards Garp, intent on cutting him with his kukri. Garp just stood at his position until at the last moment, where Helmeppo had almost reached him, and bent down and simply gave a light push upward, sending Helmeppo flying straight up into the rapidly approaching Rankyaku blade. Coby had seen this, and using Helmeppo as a distraction, he sped towards Garp using Soru, and reappeared in front of him, and curling his fingers, unleashed a barrage of Shigans at Garp. Garp smirked, and there seemed to be an aura about him as he simply batted Coby's palms away. Then, Garp gave him what appeared to be a light shove, but in fact sent him flying away. Now Coby understood what had happened to Helmeppo.

Helmeppo, meanwhile had somehow dispelled the Rankyaku blades, and brought his swords down violently, creating a travelling air blade similar to a double Rankyaku. Garp tilted his head slightly to the left, and said, "Now, I shall attack." Coby and Helmeppo were both on guard as they heard this, but nevertheless, they weren't prepared for Garp to vanish. Now, one would think that Coby and Helmeppo would be easily able to see Garp, since they themselves were users of the Rokushiki technique Soru. However, Garp was travelling at a speed which had transcended the speed of Soru. Garp appeared in front of Coby, and gave a strong right hook, which sent Coby smashing into the ceiling of the bar, and then went in front of Helmeppo, and kicked him upward, also sending him straight into the ceiling as well.

Garp simply dusted off his shoulders, and sighed, "Youngsters these days, can't even take a good solid punch."

* * *

Helmeppo woke to a light blue ceiling, and wondered where he was. Immediately, memories of his fight with Garp came to mind and he sat upright, looking around as to ascertain his exact location. He saw Coby in the bed next to him. He shifted his eyes to the door, from which he felt a presence hovering. He felt the presence enter the room and saw Garp come into the room at the same time. Helmeppo immediately deducted that the presence that he was feeling was Garp. "Could it be.. Kenbunshoku haki?" he questioned himself, excited at the prospect that his haki might have been 'unlocked'.

Just then, Coby regained consciousness, and clumsily sat up and saw Helmeppo and Garp in the room. Immediately, a huge grin stretched across his face. "Garp! I can feel you now!" he exclaimed, and Garp nodded, and explained, "What I've done is activated the dormant Haki that you posses. I did it by using a large amount of my Haki to influence you while you were distracted with fighting me." "Now," he continued, fully serious, "tell me what are the disadvantages of Kenbunshoku haki?" he asked, directing the question at Coby. Coby answered, "Even if you can predict the moves of your enemy, you might not be able to move fast enough to avoid them." Garp laughed. "So how will you fix that problem?" he asked. Coby and Helmeppo scratched their heads, unsure of how they could fix the problems that Garp had put in front of them. Then, Helmeppo said, "Could we use Busoshoku Haki to create an armor to protect ourselves?" Garp nodded sagely. Helmeppo continued by asking "Garp, how come you are still on marinefold? Haven't you resigned from your position as Vice-Admiral?" to which Garp replied, "Yes, I have. Sengoku seems to want me to go and look for the escapees from Level six of Impel Down, but Kong wants me to stay here to train the marines." "Train the marines? What do you mean?" Coby asked.

"Coby, you have seen the power which Whitebeard, and by extension Blackbeard holds. Teach is not a noble a man as Whitebeard. He would use the powers of the Gura-Gura No Mi to devastate the world. If it came to a fight between Blackbeard and the marines, who do you actually think would be able to stand up to him?" Helmeppo answered, "Fleet Admiral Kuzan, Admirals Kizaru and Akainu, maybe the shichibukai?" Garp replied, "Hahaha! The shichibukai would rather let their positions be revoked rather than try to face a man with two devil fruit powers." Leaning closer, he told them "Actually, the only few whom I think can defeat Blackbeard in a one on one fight would be Sengoku and I." Coby and Helmeppo were both shocked. To think that there was a man out there who could take on almost any marine and beat them was horrifying. "Don't worry! Kizaru or Sakazuki may be able to fight him to a stalemate. After all, he doesn't have full control of his Gura-Gura No Mi powers yet." He remarked. "That is why Kong told me to train up some of the marines, mostly Vice-Admirals and above. Haki was what kept us alive during the Roger's era. Hmph! Now any youngster going around with a decent devil fruit is known as a terrifying pirate!" Garp said. "Are you ready for your training?" asked Garp, only to be met with enthusiastic nods.

* * *

_Time skip: One year later._

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"I can't believe how much they've learnt.." thought Garp as he gazed upon his two young protégés. He was rather shocked at how much Haki they had learnt, especially at the adaptive abilities that they had gained in order to better themselves in the deliverance of justice. "Coby! Helmeppo!" he shouted. "Your training is over, oh and by the way, something dropped by in the mail." He said, handing the two young men two official looking letters. Coby, being extremely excited, ripped his letter open, and read,

_Marine HQ_

_Commander Coby,_

_As of the point you receive this letter, know that you have been promoted to the rank of Captain, and have access to all privileges and powers that this rank entails. Also note the provision of a new ship. Crewmen will be provided by Marine HQ. Your area of Patrol will be in Saboady Archipelago, under the direct orders of Rear Admiral Kezarn. You may collect your ship at Grove 61 on the second week of the fortieth moon cycle of 1522 AOP._

_Regards,_

_Fleet Admiral Kuzan_

Coby exclaimed, "I'm a captain now!" all the while grinning and looking at Helmeppo, who had received a similar letter stating his promotion to Commander. He would be second in command to Coby in the as-of-yet unnamed ship. The two of them had progressed quite far from their Master Chief Petty Officer and Chief Petty Officer posts that they had held approximately a year ago. They had alternated between three months of intensive training with Garp, and three months of hunting for bounty heads to further their rank. However, after six months of training with Garp, they were not yet ready for the New World, and as such were assigned to Saboady.

Upon reaching Saboady, the two immediately went over to Grove 61 as stated in their appointment letters. Upon reaching the Marine Base situated at the Grove, they met up with Rear Admiral Kezarn, a person who was formerly from the Sky Islands, but was recruited in the aftermath of the Great Marinefold War. It was unknown how he had achieved his high rank in such a short period of time, but what was known was that he was a cold antisocial person, which made him the one best suited to remain on Saboady Archipelago in order to prevent events like Strawhat Luffy's assault on the Tenryuubito.

"Hello there, you must be Captain Coby and Commander Helmeppo." The cool rear Admiral remarked in a polite tone, extending his hand. "Yes sir, a pleasure to meet you Rear Admiral Kezarn." Replied Coby, taking the offered hand. "Come, your ship is just over the other side of the base." He said, beckoning them to follow him. They followed him, all the while taking in the place that looked to be their home until they were promoted or reassigned to another location. The decor was pleasing, not too bright but not too dark, tastefully done. They emerged onto a balcony which overlooked a lake at the rear of the Grove. Their ship was a standard Marine-issue vessel. Coby and Helmeppo walked over to the ship and immediately were all over the place examining the entire ship from head to toe.

Apparently satisfied with the condition of the ship, the two of them walked back to the balcony where Kezarn was waiting. "Allow me to give you a tour," Kezarn said. He led them around the base, showing them the entrances and exits. After the tour, the rear Admiral led the duo to the kitchens, where they fell upon the food like people who had been starved. "Fw'n j'll d'f'e f'ar'?" mumbled Coby through the ton of food that was in his mouth. "Your duty will start as soon as you are done with your meal. I suggest you walk around the entire archipelago to check out the surroundings." Replied Kezarn, apparently unfazed by the speed at which Coby and Helmeppo were inhaling the food on the table.

Agreeing to what he said, the duo set off to see the various places in the location where they would spend quite a significant amount of time.

* * *

"Run! Its George Black!" screamed a man outside the Amusement Park. Instantly pandemonium reigned. The masses who were gathered at one of the main attractions of the Archipelago ran out of the amusement park as quickly as they could in order to avoid the notorious pirate. George Black walked slowly to the Ferris Wheel and sighed, "Why are they all so scared of me? It's not like I did anything to them." He looked to the outside world as a young man who just wanted to have some fun, but was not unaware of the state of the world as could be seen from the two swords crossed at his back.

George Black closed his eyes as he dreamt of the blood that would flow. He imagined the thick, warm liquid running all over his body, and he arched in desire, eyes snapping open to reveal orbs crazed with bloodlust. He licked his lips, and told his companion, Roche Tomson, "Shall we walk out of here? I need to _feast._" Just then he saw two young marines walking towards him.

* * *

The country of Fritistia was a peaceful country by all accounts. That was until George Black arrived at its shores. For the first few days, he was just another friendly pirate, leisurely sailing the seas for the sake of adventure, not for treasure or power or any other reason like that. On the fourth day of his arrival at the island, two young girls had disappeared in the night, and reappeared with horrific wounds. One of the girls had an arm missing, while the other girl had a gaping hole where her heart would be situated. They both had signs of being brutalized. As the new guy in town, all suspicion fell on George Black.

He told the townspeople again and again that he did not commit the murders, but they condemned him for something he told them he had not done. That night, a member of Black's crew disappeared. He too turned up the next day without the entire lower section of his body starting from his hips. On the sixth night, all the citizens of Fritistia died. Upon arriving at the island, marines would only find two men in the centre of the village, engaging in a carnal activity of cannibalism, all the while entwined together, kissing and stroking one another.

They bathed in the blood of the town, and as the marines lifted their weapons at them, they only had time to send half a warning to Marine HQ, as they were murdered. None of their blood was wasted though. George Black and his first mate, Roche Tomson had drunk it all. When the World Government investigated, they found that Roche had slaughtered the rest of his comrades while his captain killed the villagers. The duo had gained a bounty of 143,000,000 berry and 112,000,000 berry respectively, and were considered dangerous to approach. When George Black was finally found by the marines, after the slaughtering of three more islands, it took two Commondores from Navy HQ to defeat them. They were thrown into the depths of the Freezing Hell, Level Five of Impel Down, never to see the light of day ever again..

* * *

"Hey Helmeppo, that guy looks familiar doesn't he?" Coby asked, pointing at the George Black. "Hmm.. I wonder why Saboady Park is so deserted." Muttered Helmeppo. Coby, ignoring his warnings, ran up to the stranger and asked for his name. "I'm George Black, and my partner here is Roche Tomson!" he replied, smiling. "Are you a marine?" he asked Coby. Coby replied, "Yes I am! I've recently been posted here." By then, Helmeppo had reached Coby. "Recently posted? It is such a pity you have to die then.." Muttered Black.

Black immediately unsheathed his swords, swinging them in opposite direction, clearly a decapitating blow, at Coby. Coby bend backwards at the waist and looked at his newfound adversary. "I never even got to introduce myself. How rude." He remarked. "Anyway, I'm Captain Coby of the Marines and I'm here to take you in!" he stated firmly. George Black only laughed at him, saying "Don't you know who I am kid?" Helmeppo decided to chip in at this point "Nope, but we are going to take you down!"

Roche Tomson stood behind George Black, cracking his knuckles menacingly. Helmeppo remarked, "Coby, switch." He then ran towards Coby, who had stood up. Helmeppo leaped into the air, and upon linking hands with Coby, threw Coby over Black's head and towards Roche. He then drew out his two kukri knives, and got into a battle stance. "It seems that the two of you honestly do not know me," remarked Black as he got into his own battle stance. "My speed is on a level you have never seen before, kid. You will die before you even know it." He said arrogantly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Coby was facing off with Roche Tomson. Roche said quietly, "I give you one chance, surrender and I won't kill you." "Heh. Like I'd believe that." Replied Coby. Roche stood tall, but suddenly started to loosen, until he was almost falling to the ground. Coby saw this and smirked. "You won't stand a chance fighting me that way!" Coby immediately used Soru to get to Roche, and upon appearing in front of him, said "Shigan!" sending a finger speeding towards Roche's left shoulder. Roche seemed to tense for a moment before grabbing Coby's hand with his left hand, and using his right hand to slam upward into Coby's unprotected elbow. "Arghhh!" shouted Coby, as his elbow nearly snapped in two. Coby jumped away from Roche and tried to use his Kenbunshoku Haki to observe what his next move would be.

To his surprise, he could not detect anything from Roche. Roche started to stagger toward him, and suddenly turned three hundred and sixty degrees on his left foot, and slammed his open palm into Coby's unprotected chest. Coby flew away, thinking "What the hell was that! Why couldn't I see his moves coming!" Roche never left his advantage. He ran underneath Coby, and jumped, bringing his legs to wrap around the stunned Coby's torso. He then _pulled_downward, bringing Coby's head smashing down into the pavement a mere second after Coby had used Tekkai. Blood flew from Coby's open mouth, and he felt light headed.

Coby shouted, "Rankyaku!" bringing his leg downward, creating an air blade which cut Roche in the chest. Roche let loose a gasp of pain, and relinquished hold of Coby. Coby flipped from the ground to a standing position, and glared at Roche, angry at himself for being taken by surprise. He immediately started to kick multiple times, shouting "Ryankaku 'Akisame'!" sending a hail of horizontal air blades at Roche, each acting as a sword. Roche seemed to just close his eyes and stumble through the blades, miraculously not getting hit by any of them.

By then, Coby finally noticed that Roche did not have a set straight thinking pattern, which allowed him to avoid being read by Coby's Kenbunshoku Haki. The Kenbunshoku Haki relied on the target having a fixed pattern of thoughts, but random movements could not be foreseen by it. Coby finally understood, and he stood tall. Although he did not like to use the Busoshoku Haki, and was in fact relatively poor at it, the situation which he had stumbled into definitely called for it. Gathering the invisible armor around him he proceeded to charge at Roche.

Coby unleashed his full arsenal of Rokushiki skills, improvised on his own as well as those copied from the assassins of CP9. He sent airblades, finger bullets and anything that he could think of at Roche, but the man continued to avoid them seamlessly. It was then that Coby realized that in order to defeat Roche, he had to take him by surprise. "Tekkai!" Coby intoned. His body becoming akin to steel, he lumbered forward slowly.

The two opponents staggered and lumbered towards one another. Suddenly, Coby seemed to perk up, and shouted "Semei Kikan, Kami-e Bushin!" this allowed his form to grow more compact from his already lean form, making him much faster than normal. He held a hand out, gathering his meagre Busoshoku Haki around it, and slammed it into the air in front of him. This sent out an attack similar to Bartholomew Kuma's attack, an outstretched palm of air flying towards Roche. Roche was unable to avoid the attack, and Coby took full advantage of that fact, hammering him with the many shigan attacks, and finally finishing him off with a shout "Ryankaku 'Hakurai'!", sending a Ryankaku made with both his legs crashing into Roche.

After checking to see the state of Roche, Coby then sat on the ground and proceeded to sleep.

* * *

Helmeppo meanwhile, was having the time of his life. Out on his voyages, he had never encountered a swordsman as skilled as this with the exception of Roronoa Zoro. George Black was swift and merciless, punishing every slight miscalculation that Helmeppo made. Helmeppo started to fight back, putting some of his Busoshoku Haki into his attacks, making Black falter. Suddenly, Black struck with amazing accuracy, thrusting his left sword towards Helmeppo's right shoulder. Due to the little Kenbunshoku Haki that Helmeppo possessed, he was able to avoid the attack, and send one of his own flying thrusts towards Black.

The attack, which was similar to a Shigan, but done with a sword, pierced the right side of Black's abdomen. Instead of making any noises of pain as Helmeppo would have expected, Black made a noise of pleasure, and he licked the blood off the wound. "Ah! The taste of blood!" With that crazed scream, Black threw himself at Helmeppo, with a series of decapitating thrusts as well as upward slashing attacks. Helmeppo deflected all of the attacks sent at him with a little difficulty.

Helmeppo's eyes widened. "Is it just me, or are his attacks getting faster?" he wondered. He decided to attack on his own, sending a wall of flying thrusts, as well as sending multiple Rankyaku at his adversary. Black fluidly dodged, and sheathed his swords into the X shaped sheaths hanging on his back. He then settled into a stance which put his body low onto the ground, and put his hands in an X-shape to withdraw his two swords. "Battou-jutsu" Black murmured, and drawing his swords, disappeared completely from Helmeppo's view. With his Kenbunshoku Haki, Helmeppo detected that a direct attack was coming to his stomach, and he raised his swords to defend himself.

However, he was too late, as Black's speed was much greater than Helmeppo's reaction time, and his swords had left a cross shaped wound on Helmeppo's stomach. Helmeppo fell to the ground in pain, but did not make any noise of discomfort. Black stood up from his crouched position and said "Not bad, you survived that. But you haven't faced my stronger attacks yet!" Once again Black took his stance and withdrew his swords halfway, but this time, he murmured "Battou-jutsu, Black Pearl!" and he disappeared from view, and rushed towards Helmeppo.

Helmeppo knew that if he took the attack he would be dead. He shouted "Busoshoku, TEKKAI!" and made his body as hard as steel, with the added protection of his Haki. Black sliced through him, only to hear a "Clang!" and realize that he had not cut through Helmeppo as intended. He whirled around to look at Helmeppo, only to find he wasn't there.

Helmeppo had jumped into the air the moment Black's back was to him, and kicking his legs out in a V-shape, he yelled, "Rankyaku!" and he slashed with his Busoshoku infused blades in an inverted V-shape. Finally, he slashed his swords horizontally, forming two overlapping triangles, one facing away from him and one facing towards him. He yelled, "Rankyaku no Busoshoku, Sangyo!" These two overlapping triangles smashed into Black, knocking him unconscious. Looking over to the other side of the Amusement Park, Helmeppo saw Coby finish off Roche and sit down and sleep.

"It would do me some good to sleep, anyway. It's not like my wounds were killing me or anything.." thought Helmeppo as he fell asleep.

* * *

TBC. Will have some Kezarn action in the next chapter.(:


	2. The Will to Withstand

Hello everyone! Yeah.. its been around 2 weeks.): Haven't really gotten the time to write, with exams being in the first 15 days of October, so probably no more updates for now. A huge thank you to those who reviewed, **Mikila94, SilverRainFalls, Cyspark01, & PhoenixofProcella**

Additionally, I am accepting OCs! For those who don't know, and OC is an Original Character, a character that reviewers can submit. The positions are for; 2 Shichibukai, Marines (Any rank except Fleet Admiral), and Pirates (Supernova/Yonkou/Anyone else). I'd prefer it to have a backstory, or just a general feel of how the character will be like. Be warned though! If I have an OC I like, I might change it here and there a _little_ bit. Yeah just a little. So an outline would be: Name, Age, Ability, Rank (if in Marines), Bounty (if a Pirate), and general information. Enjoy the story!

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"Rear Admiral! Rear Admiral!" came the shouts from the outside the door to Kezarn's office. When he was appointed as the Commanding Officer of the Marine Base in Sabaody, he was given a spacious office, bare and ready for his décor. For 3 days he had shut himself off from the world, the rest of the marines not knowing what he was doing. Finally, after the third day he had come out, and those who had peeked into his office were shocked. There, on the walls of the office lay several intricate paintings of what seemed to be a wrathful God of Lightning, raining down his 'holy judgement' upon the people below him.

Upon the other wall lay a painting which was not related to the first, but had the same artistic style and striking intensity of the first one. There stood a hero, whose left side of the body appeared to be made from glass. He was splattered in blood, but did not have a look of bloodlust or even regret. His face was calm like the oceans, and he was looking skyward, as though he was looking for something long lost that would never be found again. On his right stood a spear stabbed into the ground. Upon that spear was a grotesque face whose features could not be made out.

Both pictures were painting in shocking detail, as though both men who had been painted actually stood there, staring at one another, as though facing off, preparing to fight a battle that would be remembered across the 5 seas.

The marine attendant outside hammered on Kezarn's door, and upon hearing a "Come in", the marine rushed inside. "Rear Admiral!" he saluted smartly. "Yes?" Kezarn asked, lifting an eyebrow. The marine's confidence immediately crumbled. "Sir, it seems that.. the infamous pirate George Black was spotted with his first mate at Sabaody Park." Kezarn perked up at that. It had been a long time since he had actually dealt with anyone of a calibre that could stand up against him, and with the exception of Vice-Admiral Smoker's visits, Kezarn had not fought anyone seriously ever since taking up his post at Sabaody.

"George Black you say.." murmured Kezarn. Inwardly, he was excited at the prospect. He had heard many rumors about the man and his first mate, about how they bathed in blood, how they desecrated the bodies of the dead and caused destruction all over the few islands that they had ravaged, not leaving behind a single human soul alive to tell the tale. The duo was thrown into the bowels of the freezing hell in the great Undersea Prison Impel Down, but they were reported to be missing in the aftermath of the Strawhat breakout of the great gaol.

He got up silently and walked to the entrance of the room, but paused, remarking "Tell Commander Judgon to bring some Kairoseki handcuffs to Sabaody Park would you?" The Marine hastily saluted, and with a loud "Yes Sir!" rushed out of the room to seek Judgon. "Hmm.. Maybe those two new people ran into George Black.." contemplated Kezarn as he exited his office.

* * *

Arriving to Sabaody Park hadn't taken very long for someone of Kezarn's abilities. He had expected to walk into Sabaody Park to find several masses of civilian casualties with Black and Roche committing some perverse act, and therefore did not expect to see what had greeted his arrival. He saw George Black lying splayed on the ground, blood exiting his mouth and appearing to be unconscious.

In a similar state was Tomson Roche, who lay on the ground bleeding from a massive cut that ran straight down from his left shoulder. He also appeared to be unconscious, and did not look like he was going to awaken soon. Although this came as a surprise to Kezarn, what was even more surprising were the two new marines who were sleeping on the floor not too far from where the criminals that they had defeated lay.

He was honestly extremely surprised. The ranks of the two young men in front of him were only that of Captain and Commander. He sincerely did not expect the two of them to pack such a punch, and the fact that each of them had defeated pirates who had bounties which were greater than 100,000,000 berry was just astounding.

Kezarn smirked. These two would have the potential to go far.

* * *

_Time Skip: 6 months later_

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* * *

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"Hey there, have you seen this man," asked a huge man, shoving a wanted poster into the face of Yamawaki Gaho, who was under the heavy effects of Alcohol. "Do you know who I am," asked Gaho in a dead whisper. "Nope!" exclaimed the huge man, who was wearing a cuirass, and on his heat sat a cone shaped straw hat, which shaded most of the stranger's face from view. "I am Yamawaki Gaho! I am worth 70,000,000 berry!" shouted Gaho, drunk and not knowing about what he spoke. The shout drew the attention of the entire bar, and time seemed to freeze as everyone was silent, looking at the stranger for his reaction.

The reaction of the stranger was unnerving. The stranger seemed to lean down to Gaho, and whisper something in his ear. Immediately, Gaho paled, and craned his head backward to see something on the stranger's neck. This attracted the attention of the bar, but even as eyes were moving towards the stranger to see what was on his neck, the man stood up, and said, "So, have you seen him around?"

Gaho replied, his voice shaking with fear, "Err. I think I saw him a few days ago, at Grove 28 or 29." "Thank you!" exclaimed the stranger, all signs of coldness or hostility disappearing instantaneously, and slapped Gaho on the back, causing him to cough loudly, as he wasn't prepared for any contact from the larger man. And with that, the large stranger left the bar.

After the man had left, the people slowly returned to their business. But eventually, one of them summoned up the courage to walk over to Gaho's table and ask, "Who was that?" Gaho only replied with three words; "One of them."

* * *

"Arghhh." Coby groaned as he stretched, hearing his bones pop into place. Although with his current rank of Commodore one would expect him to be serious like other such marines who held that position, Coby was still like his normal self as he was almost a year and a half ago. He looked at the table, or more specifically, the rules & regulations for a tournament that he was to attend in a few days' time, one which would give the marines whom attended a chance to fight big names in the Navy, as well as the Royal Shichibukai.

He heard a knock on his door, and called out, "Come in" Helmeppo walked into the room clad in some trousers, his body shining with sweat from the vigorous workout that he had just undergone. "How's the theory study going?" asked Helmeppo in an amused voice. "As usual," replied Coby in a sarcastic voice. The fact was that although Coby & Helmeppo's fighting skills were undoubtedly good, Marines also had to study many things, such as the hierarchy of the government, basic navigation, compiled profiles of criminals of various orders, and they also had to participate in any tournaments organized by Marine headquarters.

Helmeppo grinned at Coby's response. While he did not look down on Coby due to his slow memory, he liked to make jabs at Coby because of it. Just then, a Marine attendant stopped at the entrance, and snapping off a quick salute to both Coby and Helmeppo, said "Commodore sir! Captain sir! Your shift will begin in twenty minutes sirs!" and saluting them again, strode off. "Where is our patrol today?" asked Coby. "Groves 1-10 near the Human Auction Houses." replied Helmeppo. Coby gave a look of long-suffering to Helmeppo. Helmeppo nodded, but there was a glint in his eye which spoke otherwise. The two of them hated to patrol in that area. That area was filled with people being kidnapped so that they could be auctioned off, and Coby and Helmeppo could not do a single thing to stop them. "Alright, let's go then," said Helmeppo.

* * *

Outside the Auction House, Coby and Helmeppo walked around aimlessly, just walking around. That was what they had to do when they were on patrol. It was mostly a mindless job, they only having to react to petty thieves or some rogue bounty hunters most of the time. Just then, Coby's Kenbunshoku Haki picked up a strong will, the likes of which he had only sensed in Rear Admiral Kezarn. He whipped his head towards Helmeppo, who also had sensed that something was amiss.

They both turned toward the direction their Haki was pointing them in, and saw a huge figure wearing a large cone shaped straw hat that covered his face, similar to the one worn by Oars Jr. during the Battle of Marinefold. The huge hulking mass stopped, and turned its head towards Coby and Helmeppo, muttering "Damn, you've already sensed me. Will you let me go if I promise not to cause any trouble?"

Coby's face paled. The only one who had that voice was not reported to be seen in the vicinity of Sabaody! Helmeppo seemed to realize it too, as he withdrew his kukri and fell back into a defensive stance; muscles taught and ready to fight. Seeing Helmeppo's reaction snapped Coby out of his train of thoughts, also crouching down, falling into a defensive position. From his position, Coby pulled out a Den-Den Mushi and spoke into it, "Rear Admiral Kezarn! This is Commodore Coby. We need your assistance at Grove 1 right away to deal with a Level Six threat!" and waited for a reply, all the while watching his adversary. "Affirmative," came the only response from the Den-Den Mushi, and Coby put it back into his pocket.

* * *

Rear Admiral Kezarn was taking a small nap in his office, only to be awakened by the buzzing of his red Den-Den Mushi, one that he had reserved for his subordinates to carry around in case they needed to contact him. This had only happened in one case, where a new recruit had contacted him out of haste in spotting a 40,000,000 berry bounty head. Of course, the entire base had received a stern talk on when he should or should not be called to fight.

He heard the voice of Coby crackle over the Den-Den Mushi. He was quite surprised that of all people, Commodore Coby had been the one that had called. The boy had a good head on his shoulders, and even though he was susceptible to bouts of panic when faced with a strong opponent, his companion, Captain Helmeppo would be there to help him. In truth, the two should have been separated due to their promotion, but Kezarn had sent in a specific request to Marine Headquarters to send orders to keep them together, as they worked with almost perfect coordination, and their skills complemented each others'. They were formidable as individual opponents, but as a team they were damn hard to beat.

The day seemed to begin to get interesting when Coby mentioned a Level Six threat. The Level system that was used by Marine HQ was rather simple. It was relative to the threat level of the enemy, and they were rated from Levels 1-6. This was also closely relative to the system of Impel Down, although the Impel Down system relied on the bounty of the criminal in question, as compared to the Marine HQ system, which gauged the threat level of a criminal in order to group them. A Level Six threat could be as weak as the weakest Shichibukai, or could be as strong as an Admiral. With these thoughts in mind, Rear Admiral Kezarn set off to face the unknown person who was threatening Sabaody.

* * *

"Diamond Jozu. I didn't expect to see you here of all places." Coby said cautiously. While the man in front of Coby and Helmeppo did not look like much of a threat, Coby had seen his power during the Battle of Marinefold one and a half years ago. He had seen the then commander of the third division lift several tons of ice and fling it at Marine HQ with unbelievable strength.

He was also the person who had fought Fleet Admiral Kuzan (who was then known as Admiral Aokiji), and seemed to be holding his own with him. Coby also knew that Jozu had Busoshoku Haki, having seen him fight Logia users such as Crocodile and Aokiji, and knew his endurance, being able to deflect Mihawk's slash. He was also in possession of a devil's fruit which allowed him to transform into Diamond, which was what made him have his incredible endurance.

Overall, Diamond Jozu was not an enemy that one could underestimate, having the immense power to fight with the highest levels of Marines or Pirates. Helmeppo's thoughts were quite similar to Coby's, but at the same time, he was also analysing the stance that Jozu had adopted, trying to find any flaws or weaknesses. Jozu held himself like the true warrior he was, stance perfect with his feet a few spaces apart, and his shoulders turned towards the right, presenting a closed up stance which allowed mobility, and at the same time presented a smaller profile to the enemy.

Helmeppo was dismayed at that thought. Only really really strong opponents with whom Coby and he had fought like Garp and Rear Admiral Kezarn had those tactics, the small, minute things that came with great experience in the art of war. Jozu said "Come on, can we just not fight? It would be quite irritating to deal with the two of you." Helmeppo replied back bitingly, incensed by Jozu's words, "Why are you even here! Is it to kill someone! Stupid pirate!" and with that, Helmeppo vanished, using _Soru_ to travel towards Jozu at a great speed.

"Hmph, stupid rookie." remarked Jozu. He then smacked Helmeppo out of the way with a simple slapping motion. Helmeppo grunted at the force of the hit, even though it looked like Jozu had not exerted much effort at all. Coby, seeing his friend's state, got enraged, and launched several _Rankyaku_ blades at Jozu. Jozu simply grinned and moved out of the way of all the air blades, before turning his back to Coby and Helmeppo and began to walk off, scoffing "What are the marines doing, sending two rookies to take me down." Coby and Helmeppo were enraged by this seemingly flippant comment, and rushed from their positions towards Jozu, forgetting all about Rokushiki.

Rokushiki was a fighting form meant to be used in times of calm, in order to produce the most accurate results. That was why members of Cipher Pol 9 were required to learn this fighting form, so that they could carry out their assassinations coldly and methodically, just like the assassins they had been trained to be. In their moments of extreme anger, Coby and Helmeppo had just discarded Rokushiki, and were going to fight with their bare hands.

"Heh. Just like what I said, you guys can't even keep your cool in battle." Remarked Jozu, before reaching out both of his hands behind him and grabbing the heads of Coby and Helmeppo, and then smashing the heads of the two marines into one another. As they lay on the ground, bleeding ever so slightly from their heads, they both had the same thought; "Teamwork."

In Coby and Helmeppo's time under Garp, they were taught that if they did not work together, one of them would die, and the other would die soon after. Garp had put them through numerous exercises, such as leaving them to starve in a remote mountainous area, or to pit them against random fighters who were better than them individually. After all of Garp's training, one thing was clear as crystal in their minds. If an opponent was better than one of them, both of them would have to fight him. However, if an opponent was better than both of them, they would have to retreat, plain and simple.

Kezarn's trainings weren't much better; they were definitely more brutal and merciless than those that Garp had put them through. While Garp preferred to let the duo fight others in fear of injuring them with his tremendous power, Kezarn did not have any such worries. Up till now, Coby and Helmeppo had not even managed to touch Kezarn during their regular spars. Kezarn was truly showing them the power differences between them, and even though Kezarn and Coby were just a single rank apart from one another, Coby did not even come close to Kezarn's power.

With this thought in mind, Coby flipped over Jozu, and began a barrage of _Shigans_ at Jozu's unprotected back, at the same time as Helmeppo, who had started to slash at Jozu with both his swords. Jozu snorted and simply side stepped. One would think that by attacking with Rokushiki, Coby and Helmeppo would easily be able to track Jozu's movements. However, the spectrum of speed that Jozu was moving on was one that was invisible to many, inclusive of _Soru_ users. It would look as though he had disappeared from view completely, and one could not sense a person moving at that speed until the attack would hit him.

Basically, there were several levels of speed. The most basic level of speed was being fast enough to become a blur. This could be easily achieved by some training, perhaps for a few months. The second level was disappearing from view. This was the same level that _Soru_ was on. Reaching that level of speed would require explosive power from one's legs, so that he or she may kick at the ground causing them to 'disappear'. However, intensive training would be required to reach this milestone of speed.

For one to achieve the speed to "disappear", one would need to kick the ground ten times in one second. This was the basis of _Soru_, and one had to train in order to achieve a level of endurance such that their legs did not break from the force and speed that one would exert on the ground.

However, there was another level of speed above that of _Soru_. That was the speed of _Shukuchi_. It meant to literally travel a great distance in a short while, and was even faster than _Soru_. However, not many knew how to use it, mostly owing to the fact that it was greatly used in the 'old age' of piracy, whereby things like devil fruits were rare, and the people who had eaten them were discriminated against.

Since devil fruits were that rare, the strength of the population at that time was attributed to their natural strength and talent, and their training which allowed them to maximize the extent of their individual strength. Many swordsmen and fighters existed back in the times of Roger, and their strength was on the same level as the strength of those whom had eaten devil fruits.

In the era after Roger's, where the World Government had sent out a majority of its Marine forces in order to suppress pirate crews all over the Grand Line and the new world, people whom had the speed of _Shukuchi_, and other such techniques which enhanced their natural attributes greatly were hunted down, especially by Sengoku and Garp. They were the ones responsible for the number of prisoners in Impel Down's Level Six, and the names of the Pirates were erased from History, and their crews were hunted down and exterminated. Only those whom were under the protection of a powerful crew such as Whitebeard's, or were unknowns during Roger's era were the few that escaped the notice of the world government.

In 0.83 seconds after Jozu had sidestepped, Helmeppo wrenched his swords away, and Coby shoved his fingers down into the Earth. Immediately after they had started their attack, they had noticed a subtle shift, and in that short span of time, they had immediately reacted and managed to divert the paths of their attacks in order to prevent them from hitting each other. Coby's fingers dug deep into the ground from the force of the _Shigan _which was supposed to hit Jozu, and two air blades veered away from Helmeppo due to the strength that he had used to wrench his blades away.

Inwardly, Jozu was gasping for air, although his face did not show any signs of any inconvenience. The _Shukuchi_, which allowed the user to travel at great speeds, was not without a price that had to be paid for the massive boost in speed that it provided. When an object moves at a constant speed, it will move at that speed until an external force acts on it. In this case, when the object comes to rest, it jerks, similar to how someone would have to use great force to stop oneself instantly after moving at a great speed. This was what was affecting Jozu.

In fact, this phenomenon affected all users of _Shukuchi_. Once they had started using it, when they stopped, the user would feel a great amount of pain, due to the air cutting into them, as well as their body's resistance to the change in motion. That was the only reason why _Shukuchi_ was not used all the time, only in times of desperation. In fact, Jozu had only seen it being used when Marco and Vista attacked that man after he had _murdered _their nakama.

Jozu was impressed. The two youngsters, despite having a relatively weak rank, had some skills. Good. They were not completely useless then. Jozu then said "I will hit you once, just once. If you survive, you will get to live in this new age. If you do not, you were too **_weak_**!" and with that, Jozu used an increased step of_ Soru,_ whereby he kicked the ground 15 times in an instant, just a step above the normal level of _Soru_, which was kicking the ground only 10 times. As a result of only travelling at that speed, Coby and Helmeppo were able to see Jozu as he ran towards them, intending to deliver a final blow.

The two of them stood resolute, unmoving in the face of this man's tremendous strength. If there was one thing that Coby had learnt in his journey, it was that if one did not have the courage to live for his dream, that person could never accomplish it and would forever remain deluded. Jozu was impressed that the two marines had taken his challenge seriously, and therefore did not pull back his punches when he hammered the two of them in their stomachs, sending them reeling into unconsciousness.

He smirked at the two on the floor. "I wonder," he thought, "Will they be good enough for the New World?" he scratched at his chin, and turned to walk away, to carry on pursuit of the man he was looking for. Or rather, he would have, had he not been kicked in the back, sending him barrelling into one of the towering mangrove trees of Grove 1.

* * *

Rear Admiral Kezarn had set out to Grove 1 in order to meet the supposed Level Six threat that was present there. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then 'stretched out' with his Kenbunshoku Haki, sensing the people on the Grove. He frowned, and then moved slightly to the left, and turned so that he was facing Grove 1. Then he focussed, and blocked out everything except what was happening at Grove 1. He sensed a huge presence of Haki, most likely the threat that Coby had mentioned. He also sensed the two young marines under his care. They seemed to be standing still, as though waiting for something.

All of a sudden, the unknown person moved at a high speed, and Kezarn could feel the presence of his two marines waver, and then collapse into a stagnant state. His eyes snapped open, and he rushed towards Grove 1. Since Coby & Helmeppo had been taken out, taking care of the unknown person would be his responsibility. If he had only carried on sensing, he would have noticing another presence arriving...

* * *

Jozu scowled as he picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off. Looking at the crack in the Mangrove in front of him, he thought that whoever had kicked him pretty hard. Eating the Kongou-Kongou No Mi, had made him a diamond man, which had allowed him to take many attacks which would have felled foes greater than he, but they also deadened his senses to the world around him.

The only times when he really felt pain was when he was struck with attacks which were infused with Busoshoku Haki, which negated his fruit abilities, or when he was exposed to Kairoseki, which similarly rendered him more vulnerable to pain. His devil fruit was extremely useful, as it allowed him to almost not feel an ounce of pain, even though he had lost limbs, such as the event in the Marinefold War, where due to a moment of hesitation, he was frozen by the then Admiral Aokiji, and his entire left arm had fallen off.

He had gotten the arm reattached after the Whitebeard Pirates' strategic retreat, by forcing of the bonds of Diamond, which was actually a form of Carbon, in his arm to be activated, and once they had been charged, putting the two body parts together was an easy feat.

Jozu turned around, and behind him, he saw a grey haired man whom was chomping on two cigars, looking at him with a scowl on his face. "Hmm.. Vice-Admiral Smoker, didn't expect to see you here.." Jozu said, thoughtfully scratching his skin. This brought an entire new perspective into the entire matter. If Smoker was here, things could become complicated very very quickly.

Indeed, in the aftermath of the Marinefold War, Smoker, humiliated by the fact that he had once again let Strawhat Luffy escape from him, requested Fleet Admiral Kuzan to reallocate him to the Marine Base G5 in the New World. It was there that he learnt truly how much distance had lain between his current level of strength, and the level of strength of the pirates of the New World.

Upon hearing about Haki, and identifying Busoshoku Haki as the Haki that Boa Hancock had used in order to dispose of him during the Marinefold War, he had set out to ask his superiors to learn it. He would even put up with Garp to learn it, as long as he came out of the training stronger than before. But his superiors had refused, saying that they could not 'make space for punks' like him, and that he had to attain at least a Rear Admiral rank in order to learn that power.

Smoker was determined to learn, and to everyone's surprise, rose and became a Vice-Admiral in the span of one and a half years, a feat considered to be impossible. However, Smoker had done the impossible, and as a reward, was taught the different forms of Haki, although he was only left with the bare basics, seeing as that his superiors were ticked off due to his past actions.

"Hey, Smoker, don't start the party without me.." came the drawl from to the left. Jozu craned his head to the side, to see who the newcomer was. He saw the visage of Rear Admiral Kezarn. "Hmph. Rear Admiral Kezarn. Born and raised on Sky Island, you've come down to the Blue Sea to join the Marines." Jozu remarked. Inwardly, he was thinking as hard as he could, trying to remember everything that he knew about this enigma. For that was what Rear Admiral Kezarn was. He was an enigma that no one knew quite a lot about.

Joining the ranks of the Marines shortly after the Marinefold War for unknown reasons, he had fast tracked up the promotion, and there were whispers of him having a Devil Fruit ability, even though none of it was proved, as the Rear Admiral was stationed in Sabaody, which did not warrant the use of his Devil Fruit powers, merely some basic punches and kicks in order to take care of some unruly rookies. Jozu grinned. He had not been in a fight against such highly ranked Marines ever since the Marinefold War. The Whitebeard Pirates had certainly changed. With the death of their leader and several beloved comrades, they had become secretive and brutal, fighting back with no restraint, armed and ready to kill. The Whitebeard Pirates would not show mercy to those whom had not shown them any.

* * *

TBC. On a side note though, Kezarn was an OC I created for someone's story, and since that person didn't use it... I thought why not!xD Remember to Review!


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